Fernando Torres
Fernando José Torres Sanz (born 20 March 1984 in Madrid, Spain) is a Spanish footballer, who plays for Liverpool.
Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid, with
whom he progressed through the youth ranks. He made his professional debut in 2001 and finished his career with the club scored 75 goals in 174 La Liga appearances. Prior to this, Torres played two seasons in the Segunda División, making 40 appearances and scoring seven goals. He joined Liverpool in 2007, after the club paid their record transfer fee to sign him and marked his first season with the club by being their first player to score more than 20 league goals for the club in a season since Robbie Fowler in 1995–96.
He is also a Spanish international and made his debut for the team against Portugal in 2003. He has since participated in three major tournaments; UEFA Euro 2004, 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008. He was unable to score for Spain during the 2004 tournament, but did so on three occasions in the 2006 World Cup. He has been given the nickname El Niño ("The Kid").
Early career
Torres, born on 20 March 1984, became interested in football as a child and joined his first team, Parque 84, at the age of five.[1] His grandfather was not passionate about football, but prided himself in being an Atlético Madrid supporter, and Torres inherited his love for the Madrid club.[1]
When he was seven years-old, he started playing regularly in an indoor league for his neighbourhood club, Mario’s Holland, as a forward.[1] Three years later, aged ten, he progressed to playing for an 11-side team, Rayo 13.[1] After an impressive season with his new club, in which he scored 55 goals, Torres was one of three Rayo 13 players to earn a trial with Atlético Madrid.[1] He impressed the scouts and, aged just eleven, joined the club in 1995.[1]
Club career
Atlético Madrid
After progressing through the ranks, Torres won his first important youth title in 1998. Atlético Madrid sent an under-15 team to compete in the Nike Cup, both domestically and European, to play youth teams from prominent European clubs; Atlético won the tournament.[1][2] He was later voted the best player in Europe for that age-group.[2] In 1999, aged fifteen, Torres signed his first contract with Atlético Madrid.[1] He spent his first year playing in the youth team team and them moved onto the participating in the Honour Division when he was 16.[1] The 2000–01 season had started badly, as Torres suffered from a cracked shinbone that kept him out of action until December.[1] Torres trained with the first team to get prepared for pre-season, but eventually made his debut for the team on 27 May 2001, at Vicente Calderón, against Leganés.[1] A week later, he scored his first goal for the club against Albacete and the season finished with Atlético narrowly mising out on promotion to La Liga.The 2001–02 season saw Atlético win promotion back to La Liga, which was a poor one for Torres, during which he netted only six times in 36 appearances in the Segunda Division.[3] Torres' first season at the highest level of Spanish football, 2002–03, was a good one which saw him manage to score 12 goals in 29 appearances as Atlético finished 11th.[1][3] In the 2003–04 season, his second in La Liga, Torres made further strides, scoring 19 league goals in 35 appearances,[3] meaning he finished as joint third highest scorer in the league.[4] Aged just nineteen, he was also named Atlético's club captain.[2] Atlético narrowly missed out on qualification for the UEFA Cup, but by finishing in 7th place in 2004 they qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup, giving Torres his first taste of European club competition. He scored two goals in the two round four matches against OFK Beograd, with one coming in each leg.[5] Atlético reached the final, but lost on penalties to Villarreal.[5] Premier League champions Chelsea were believed to be interested in Torres in 2005, but Atlético president Enrique Cerezo said that they had "no chance" of signing him.[6] Cerezo later said in January 2006 that the club were willing to listen to offers for Torres, and Torres claimed Newcastle United had made a bid to sign him in March
After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, in which Torres participated as a member of the Spanish national team, he admitted that he had turned down the chance to join Chelsea at the end of the 2005–06 season.[9] Following the 2006–07 season, in which he scored 14 La Liga goals,[3] Torres' future at Atlético was once again the subject of speculation after their inability to secure an automatic UEFA Cup spot. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United were all linked with a move for him,[10] with reports in the English media stating that Torres was the main transfer target of Liverpool.[11] The rumours reached such a fever pitch that Atlético president Enrique Cerezo made a statement saying, "We've received no offer from Liverpool or any other club or player."[12] However, a few days later, new reports suggested Atlético had agreed a deal with Liverpool for Torres; the fee rumoured was £25 million with Luis García moving in the opposite direction in a separate transfer deal.[13] Then on 30 June Atlético announced a deal with Villarreal to sign Diego Forlán, which was seen as a move to replace Torres before his departure had become official.[14] On 2 July it was reported Torres had cut short a holiday to fly back to Madrid to finalise the move to Liverpool.[15] The following day, Torres passed a medical for Liverpool and it was announced that a farewell press conference would be held in Madrid on 4 July to bid farewell to the Atlético fans.[16] The transfer fee is the highest paid in Liverpool's history,[14] and in March 2008, manager Rafael Benítez confirmed to The Times that Torres was acquired for around £20 million.[17]
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fernando José Torres Sanz | |
| Date of birth | 20 March 1984 | |
| Place of birth | Madrid, Spain | |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Liverpool | |
| Number | 9 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1995–2001 | Atlético Madrid | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2001–2007 2007– | Atlético Madrid Liverpool | 214 (82) 33 (24) |
| National team2 | ||
2003– | Spain U21 Spain | 10 (3) 51 (16) |
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